Cast members Jack Champion, Bailey Bass, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss and Jamie Flatters attend the Canadian Premiere of Avatar: The Way of Water, in Toronto, on Dec. 14.George Pimentel/The Canadian Press
Five years ago, director James Cameron introduced four young, relatively unknown actors to the world, declaring them the future of his Avatar mega-franchise.
Jamie Flatters, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Bailey Bass and Jack Champion were plucked out of who-knows-how-many fresh faces to play the younger generation of Pandora characters. Flatters and Bliss were cast as the alien offspring of human soldier-turned-Na’vi ally Jake (Sam Worthington) and warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), while Bass scored the central role as the daughter of a Na’vi sea tribe chief. Meanwhile, Champion would avoid having his skin digitally turned blue by playing the Mowgli-like Spider, a human boy who is adopted into the Na’vi community after his parents abandoned him following the events of the first film.
While Cameron likely knew what the next few years of his cast’s lives might look like, surely the kids – the eldest barely into their tweens at the time – had no idea what was in store. This week, though, they will watch along with the rest of the world as Avatar: The Way of Water finally makes it onto screens – and find out if their youth was worth being spent running around soundstages and submerged in water tanks.
Ahead of The Way of Water’s premiere, the young actors visited Toronto to talk with The Globe and Mail about making cinematic history all while going through puberty.
Jamie Flatters, Zoe Saldana, Britain Dalton and Sam Worthington in Avatar: The Way of Water.Courtesy of 20th Century Studios
When did you watch the original Avatar for the first time?
Jack Champion: I was six years old, watching it with my mom and her friend on this really crappy TV. But even then I remembered feeling transported into the world. Not, like, vividly. But I remember feeling like a cool kid, staying up late while this TV emanated a blue light.
Trinity Jo-Li Bliss: I was in my playpen, going goo-goo-ga-ga. I mean, I was a baby when it first came out, though I do know that my family went to see it at the time. But my first time watching it was when I was auditioning, and I fell in love with it.
Bailey Bass: I watched it during the audition process, at 12 years old. I would rewatch it a lot, because that’s the best research I could do.
Jamie Flatters: I was nine years old, and what I took away was these transcendent landscape shots. It was dreamlike. And then as soon as we stopped filming this, I went on this cheap ski holiday and on the way back in the bus they played Avatar. I was trying to get away from it! It’s embedded in us.
Co-star Kate Winslet has already made headlines by saying that, while filming one scene, she held her breath underwater for 7½ minutes. What are your records?
Champion: Five minutes and 30 seconds.
Bliss: Three minutes and 30 seconds.
Bass: Six minutes and 30 seconds. But okay, stop, we have to correct this because when you’re diving underwater, your watch stops when you’re coming up to the surface. So you can be right at the top and still holding your breath, and your watch will stop. A lot of us have to round.
Flatters: I’ve lied in the past and said five minutes and 30 seconds, but it was actually five minutes and 17 seconds. We have to be honest in Toronto! In L.A., it’s all dreams. This is my truth.
What was the most challenging part of training for the film?
Bliss: During the first week, I was having a lot of trouble with some parkour training, and I broke down in tears. Then [co-star Britain Dalton] came over and gave me this brotherly hug, and from that moment on we became this big family.
Champion: It was getting in shape from being this pudgy 12-year-old. My trainer got me through years of body-building and cross-fit and making sure I was comfortable in my own body. I went from Bambi to Mufasa.
Bass: Well, there was getting over my fear of drowning. But it was also about being comfortable in your own skin. I was the only teen girl there, so going through puberty with guys who are also going through puberty – and who are also good at parkour – is really frustrating.
Avatar: The Way of Water opens in theatres Dec. 16